17. Christian Worldview

(choose one of the following bulleted workouts)

  • RealLife Plus Seminar
    1. Attend RealLife Plus Seminar.
    2. Complete instructor's workout.
    3. Discuss with an Equipping Partner.
  • Book Review
    1. Read Francis A. Schaeffer’s The God Who is There.
    2. Write a Book Review.
    3. Share it with an Equipping Partner.
  • Follow-Up Study
    1. Limiting yourself to three, typed pages, write a personal statement of faith (annotated with Scripture references). Begin by obtaining any confessional statement of your church as well as any available copies of creeds and confessions it affirms. Next borrow (or purchase) copies of two different systematic theologies. (Try your school, church, or the RealLife lending library at the Wilson House.) Although you may not have the opportunity to read these in their entirety, read enough of them to capture the major topics of systematic theology and some important points of disagreement. Decide what you believe, and present your findings with reference to the historic categories of Christian theology. This would likely include at least the following subjects (though not necessarily in this order): revelation, theology proper, creation, anthropology, fall, person and work of Jesus Christ, atonement, Holy Spirit, salvation, church, eschatology… Helpful systematic theologies include Louis Berkhof’s Systematic Theology (Reformed), Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology (General), Millard J. Erickson’s Christian Theology (Baptist/General), Charles Hodge’s Systematic Theology (Reformed), Thomas Oden’s Systematic Theology (Wesleyan), John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion (Reformed), Augustus H. Strong’s Systematic Theology (Baptist), and Charles Ryrie’s Basic Theology (Dispensational). You might wish to consider your views in light of the Westminster Confession of Faith or the Westminster Larger Catechism.
    2. Share your personal statement with an Equipping Partner.
  • Christianity in the Workplace
    1. Write a theological reflection on the field of your academic concentration or on the vocation you are most strongly considering.
    2. Find a Christian faculty in your field or professional working in the vocation you are considering. Prepare a list of questions on the ways in which the gospel of Jesus Christ informs and is expressed through such study/work. Share the list with an Equippment Partner, and make improvements.
    3. Interview the Christian practitioner, and take notes.
    4. Write a theological reflection in two parts. First, write your own theology of the field/work (with references to significant Scripture texts). Second, reflect on what your interview taught you. Offer a critique of the practitioner’s practice and theological understanding in light of your own views.
    5. Share and discuss your paper with an Equipping Partner.